Trafalgar Castle School - Yearbook (Whitby, Ontario Canada)

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Alice at O.L.C. (continued) little girls don ' t come snooping around here at night. You always see me awake because I ' m the Day Lio n. But as soon as it gets real dark, he takes his turn on watch. By the time you ' re out for morning walk, of course it ' s my turn again. Really, no kidding? said Alice? No lion, said Leo. My, said Alice, what a lot you two must see and know about the school and the girls who ' ve gone here for years and years and years. Tell me what do you think of the modern girl compared with grandma when she went to school? Now, young lady, said Leo, that ' s putting me on a spot. I think you ' re trying to twist my tail. But I ' ll tell you — I love ' em all alike, because there ' s not really so much difference as you could squeeze through the keyhole there. Sure, they used to trail around in long skirts and stiff shirts and big buns of hair (pardon me, chignons they were), and now they romp in sweaters and shorts and cut their hair almost like boys ' , and today they think they ' re awfully advanced, but bless you, they ' re the same good- hearted kids from year to year, and each Commencement Day when they come out here in their white dresses with roses in their arms, to have their pictures taken with Dopey and me, well, my old heart is fit to burst with pride and affection. Why, I ' ll bet you the old Dodo up there in the Dean ' s office, and all the other odd characters who teach all that learning — reeling and writhing, distraction and derision, and mystery and drawling and Laughing and Grief — I ' ll bet you they all feel the same as I do, — fair bursting with pride and wiping the mist off their spectacles. Alice was a little doubtful, but her mind was on another track. But she wailed, I often wonder what ' s the sense of learning all that stuff, just to forget a lot of it. I mean what good does it do you? Where does it get you? Now, now, replied the lion, don ' t rush, just be calm and listen to reason. Your face has got some sense in it — though it isn ' t a clever one. You can ' t expect to see results all at once. It took a long time and lots of good food and exercise for you to grow into the fine healthy girl you are now; it takes a still longer time, the best mental vitamins, and plenty of mental and spiritual exercise to make you equally healthy mentally and spiritually — qualified to be an all round useful citizen. Take care of the character, I always say, and the career will take care of itself. Yes, that ' s what I would like to tell them all on the day when they leave here for the last time. When they turn at the gate to have a last look at the castle and wave a last farewell to Dopey and me, that ' s what I ' ll be saying: Don ' t forget — character ' s everything! Well, this is a long speech from an old fellow like me. But it ' s from the heart, you know. And that ' s another thing — character ' s fourfold. There ' s body, mind and spirit, but don ' t forget to exercise your heart as well. Be sure your heart is in the right place, and then let it talk. Well, goodbye now said Leo, as the deep notes of the tower bell warned all who were abroad that it was almost time for dinner. Alice raised her head and tried to gather her sleepy wits. Her Geometry had fallen from her lap and her pencil was at the bottom of the steps. When she remem- bered, she turned quickly to look at Leo, who was as usual staring down the driveway. But Alice wasn ' t quite certain — surely there was a twinkle in the corner of his eye? A voice from above shrilled, Hey, Alice, the bell has gone. OK said Alice, and she scrambled up, a little stiffly. She looked around, and, sure that no one was in sight, she bent down swiftly and planted a kiss on the top of Leo ' s head. I won ' t forget, old thing, she said, and streaked off for the side door. M. H. S. Page Twenty-five

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Senior Class Prophecy, cont ' d. pupil. Joan, a coloratura soprano, had hit high I , the sound 1 had mistaken for a bell. At the end of the long corridor was the office, and at the sound of many typewriters I looked in. Three of the stenographers 1 recognized as Hazel Mitchell, Sonia Robertson and Kay Reeves, while the bookkeeper was Perla Audai. Thirty-five girls in all I had renewed acquaintance with, even if a little indirectly or in an unexpected place, but seeing them or their replicas brought so many happy experiences of O.L.C. While the sun was still shining I made my way to my helicopter and spun out of the laneway waving goodbye to the senior class of 1950. Vivien Beach ALICE AT O.LC. Chapter 666 (Being part of the Dean ' s Senior Dinner Speech — April 28, 1950 — with apologies to Lewis Carroll ) It was a glorious Saturday afternoon in May, and, in spite of exams so close at hand, one could not resist the warm invitation of the spring sunshine to sit outside and soak it up. Alice took her book out to the front steps, tucked herself into a corner, and rolled down her stockings contrary to explicit instructions of the old Dodo (excuse it, she means the Dean). She opened her book, found her place, and started to figure it out: The vertex of a parabola bisects the segment of its axis cut off by the tangent , but the sun was so bright, and the parabolas swung round on the page like crazy comets ( Don ' t overdo this business of trying to study out in the sun, girls, — this was the Dean, of course — you ' ll ruin your eyesight ). The vertex of the umbrella . . no, that wasn ' t right, but why bother . . The air was so deliciously fragrant . . . mmm, those lilacs . . . that she closed her eyes the better to enjoy it. Horrid old exams, she thought, why do they have to spoil the springtime? Yes, said a gruff, but not unsympathetic voice, but life is like that, and we have to be ready to be tested at all times, bad and good. Life isn ' t all basking in the sun. There are cold nights and stormy days as well, and we must provide against their coming. Believe me, I know. So we must not only learn, but be ready to have our knowledge put to the test. Alice rubbed her eyes and looked around. Well, who, of all things, she said, who ever said that? Not a soul was in sight, but she thought she detected a secret smile on the face of the lion on the pedestal across from her. She leaned forward to have a better look. Ugh, said a still gruffer voice. Look out, you have your elbow on my tail. Alice started, and regarded the sleeping lion with amazement. Why, Dopey, old fellow, she said, can — can you talk? Certainly I can, when there ' s anyone worth talking to, replied Dopey, yawning. Thank you, said Alice, that ' s a compliment I take it. You can take it, or leave it, said Dopey, not unkindly. It ' ll be all the same in a hundred years, and he closed his eyes and went sound asleep again. Alice appealed to his more alert companion. I ' ve never, she said, in all the time I ' ve been here, seen him awake before. Why is he asleep like that all the time? That ' s easy, said Leo No. I, that ' s because you are a good little girl, and good Page Twenty-four

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